Stour Valley Educational Trust

For further information on secondary education in Clare and surrounding villages, see Stour Valley Educational Trust.

www.stourvalleyeducation.org

Stour Valley Community School Open Evening 5 October from 7pm

Dear Parents, Carers and Supporters,

You will have started to see the posters around Clare and the surrounding villages confirming the details of the Stour Valley Community School Open Evening. It will be held in the Main Hall of Clare Middle School on Tuesday 5 October from 7-9pm.

The hall will have a number of tables set out to cover the key topics on which you as parents, carers and supporters have asked for more information.
Please arrive at any time from 7pm onwards and then talk to our Prospective Governors who will be available at each of the tables and receive answers your questions. Printed information covering all the key topics will be available on the evening for you to take away.

The topics on which we will focus are:

Our Vision for Stour Valley Community School
The Application Process
The Admissions Process & Transport
The Curriculum
The Wider Curriculum
Partnerships and Links with Primary Schools and post-16 providers
The Questions which parents and Pupils frequently ask.

Please also continue to look regularly at the SVCS website where we will also post details of the Open Evening and school policies as they are developed.

As always with Stour Valley Community School events, children are very welcome.

We look forward to speaking to you all at the Open Evening.


Keith Haisman
Chairman

and the team at Stour Valley Educational Trust

Public Meeting 7pm Wednesday 21st July 2010

PUBLIC MEETING, CLARE MIDDLE SCHOOL
7 PM, WEDNESDAY 21 JULY 2010

Dear Parent/Carer,

Significant developments in the provision of educational choice for parents and children residentin the Stour Valley Community on both sides of the Essex/Suffolk border.

If you have a child or children at Clare Middle School or at a primary school in Belchamp St Paul, Bulmer,Cavendish, Clare, Glemsford, Hartest, Hundon, Ridgewell or Wickhambrook, then attending this meeting is essential to your child’s future.

This meeting will tell you about the proposed new secondary school in Clare, Stour Valley Community School,opening in September 2011 at the Clare Middle School site.
You will be informed about the very significant progress made in developing this new School.

In particular, you will:
• Hear about our recent meeting with Prime Minister, David Cameron, and Secretary of
State for Education,Michael Gove, who have pledged their personal support
• Find out about the time line towards the planned opening in September 2011
• Hear about the vision for the new School and its aspirations for pupils
• Be introduced to the Trustees and prospective Governors
• Be addressed by a senior Department of Education “champion” who will be working
with us to ensure that the new School opens on time and is fully functioning from
day one

In order that all parents may attend, the meeting is also open to children.
If you are unable to attend the meeting but would like to receive information about these plans, please contact me at keith.haisman@stourvalleyeducation.org or on 01787 278925.

Yours sincerely
Keith Haisman
Chairman

Please note: Simon White, Director for Children and Young People, Suffolk County Council, has asked us to advise you that the information being distributed is provided by the Trust and in agreeing to distribute it, schools are not taking responsibility for the accuracy of its contents nor are they endorsing opinions expressed in it. However, should the Trust’s proposal be approved it is important that all local schools work in partnership in the interest of all children in the area.

Stour Valley Educational Trust Ltd
c/o 11, Hermitage Meadow, Clare, Suffolk CO10 8QQ Tel: 01787 279182
Registration Number: 7226557 Charitable Trust Status Applied for.
5th July 2010

SVET Press Release 1st July 2010

Press Release 1 July 2010

Stour Valley Community School, Clare

The Trustees of Stour Valley Educational Trust (SVET) attended a reception at 10 Downing Street, and a Cabinet Room meeting with the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Education, on Wednesday 30 June, 2010. SVET Trustees Keith Haisman, Patrick Bell and Derek Blake were accompanied by Diana Sharp, Chair of local parental support group, C.L.A.R.E.

At this event, the following key points were clarified:

• Prime Minister David Cameron provided his personal commitment to ensuring that SVET is empowered to deliver Stour Valley Community School (SVCS) to our community. Whilst acknowledging that this will be a difficult task, he assured us that he will provide the legislation, decisions and resources to achieve the necessary timeline.

• Mr Cameron also disclosed that he had delayed the House of Commons’ summer recess this year to ensure that the necessary educational reform legislation is in place at the earliest opportunity.

• The Trustees were introduced to the Department of Education’s Director of Local Improvement and Performance who is the lead official for the New Schools’ process. She confirmed that one of her Deputy Directors has been assigned to champion the development of SVCS. This appointment will ensure that central Government support is at the heart of all stages of the process between now and September 2011.

• Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove told us that he will invite Suffolk County Council and SVET to an early meeting with himself to ensure that everyone understands the need to cooperate fully to achieve an outcome satisfactory to all parties.

• Following these clarifications, SVET is planning to arrange a Public Meeting in Clare on 21st July. Mr Gove informed us that a senior Department of Education representative will attend the meeting and address parents, pupils and community supporters to assure all involved that the funding, process and timeline is in place to ensure the opening of the new school in September 2011. Details of the Public Meeting will be circulated in due course.

In conclusion, the Trustees are convinced that, whilst the formal process is iterative and could take some months to complete, that process has now commenced and will result in Stour Valley Community School opening in September 2011 at the site currently occupied by Clare Middle School. We look forward to working with all parties to improve educational choice, diversity, quality and outcomes in the Stour Valley community on both sides of the Suffolk/Essex border around Clare.


Ends.

For further information:
Patrick.Bell@StourValleyEducation.org – 07769 707051
Keith.Haisman@StourValleyEducation.org – 07990 612157
Derek.Blake@StourValleyEducation.org – 07849 871317

Statement from C.L.A.R.E. group

I would like to put on record the appreciation of members of the C.L.A.R.E. group to Jim Meikle for his chairmanship over the last four years.

Jim’s contribution and the determination of the C.L.A.R.E. members together with that of local parents and the SVET team has helped to secure the real possibility that there will continue to be a secondary school in Clare.

I am delighted to have been asked to take on the role of Chair of C.L.A.R.E. at this very important time and I will continue to ensure that C.L.A.R.E, has a clear role as a link to the parents in Clare and surrounding villages and a vehicle for them to express their views.

Diana Sharp
Chair

Press release from Stour Valley Educational Trust Ltd

THE FUTURE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN CLARE

Background
C.L.A.R.E. (Campaign for Local and Rural Education) has for more than three years been seeking the retention of secondary education in Clare. This follows Suffolk County Council’s (SCC’s) decision, within their School Organisation Review, to close Clare Middle School in July 2011. C.L.A.R.E. has sought in vain throughout this time to persuade SCC to retain the Middle School site and open an 11-16 medium-sized secondary school there in September 2011.

The Current Situation
Faced with this situation the campaign group in February 2010 mandated a small team to produce a proposal for a “free school” under the then Tory opposition’s plans for a new type of school. This implied no political allegiance; it was simply that this was a means, possibly the only means, of delivering the school that local parents indicated they wanted. As a result, three members of the local community (Keith Haisman {Chair, Clare Parish Council}, Patrick Bell and Derek Blake) established Stour Valley Educational Trust Ltd(SVET) and produced a 200 page bid for “Stour Valley Community School”. This was delivered to the New Schools Network on 5 May and was possibly the very first proposal to reach the desk of Michael Gove, the new Secretary of State for Education. The subject has generated significant media interest, with the proposal being featured on ITN News at Ten, BBC1 Look East, the Politics Show and Radio Suffolk.

The proposal is robust, given the existence of a purpose-built set of buidings (it was originally an 11-16 school), very strong parental support from within Clare and the surrounding Suffolk and Essex villages, and equally strong community support as evidenced by the many well qualified people, parents and non-parents, who have indicated their wish to become governors or supporters.

The intention is that the School will be grounded strongly in the community it serves, with its catchment simply being a circle around Clare that includes all the surrounding Suffolk and Essex villages. The School will seek to develop all pupils “to be the best that they can be” and will target achieveing over time 70% GCSE A*-C (including maths and english). It will be small enough that teachers will know their pupils really well, but large enough, at around 700 pupils after five years, to sustain a varied and forward facing curriculum. It will espouse traditional values and embrace new technologies in seeking to develop confident and rounded young adults.

In order for year 8 parents to be able to elect in September 2010 for the school of their choice for September 2011, there must be absolute certainty about the future this summer. As a result, C.L.A.R.E. and SVET are maintaining the pressure for an early decision from central government on the free school proposal. They will also pursue any other avenues that present themselves and are determined to succeed!

For more information, please contact Patrick Bell at patrick.bell@strourvalleyeducation.org or mobile 07769 707051

Statement from former Chair of C.L.A.R.E

The campaign to retain the Clare Middle School has moved on to processes being managed by the Stour Valley Education Trust company for a new school.

The future of the school no longer rests upon a campaign but upon the successful conclusion of other processes.

Therefore it is my intention to immediately step back from school’s issues and concentrate that time upon other matters that have hitherto received less of my attention than they should have.

I am proud of the work and effort and all that was achieved by the C.L.A.R.E. core group and others who helped and supported us in variety ways.

I would like to thank everybody involved for all that support and effort without whose dedication, effort and the consumption of such a lot of wine, so much would not have been achieved.

Jim Meikle.

The future of education in Clare and the Stour Valley area

For more than 3 years, C.L.A.R.E has worked to change Suffolk County Council's plan to displace our children from age 11 to large schools in Haverhill and Sudbury from 2011. Whilst this vigorous campaign continues and every effort is being made to work with SCC to secure secondary education in the town, a new opportunity has emerged.

The 'Free Schools' agenda provides a realistic opportunity for our community to pioneer a new age of educational excellence - with traditional values reinvigorated to meet the demands of the future.

The Stour Valley Educational Trust has been set up to take this opportunity forward.

To find out more and make your choice - please download the green 'Parental Preference Form' by clicking the attached link:

http://www.stourvalleyeducation.org/Secondary%20school%20for%20Clare%20-%20Introduction%20and%20parental%20preference%20form.pdf

The Stour Valley Educational Trust Ltd
Patrick Bell
Clare Parish Office
The Old School
Callis Street
Clare
Suffolk
CO10 8PX
Email: Patrick.Bell@StourValleyEducation.org
http://www.stourvalleyeducation.org/

BBC politics show - 14th March 2010

C.L.A.R.E campaign and 'Free Schools' coverage on this Sundays BBC Politics Show (East)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rh936/The_Politics_Show_East_14_03_2010/

C.L.A.R.E Public Meeting is a success

On the 1st March 2010, the C.L.A.R.E group held a public meeting at the Pavilion in Clare. The purpose of the meeting was to establish if the community still wanted secondary education in Clare and if so, who would be willing to join the board of trustees required to open a new school?

Clearly we do! An encouraging number of people have come forward as possible trustees and many more with offers of help and support. We shall be contacting them all individually within the week with an action plan.

The BBC's politics show arrived to film the meeting and gave the audience the opportunity to ask a question to Ed Balls, MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. The program is due to be televised this month.

Thank you to all those who were able to attend and to everyone for your continued support.

Newsletter Feb 2010

Do we REALLY want to retain secondary education in Clare?

Since March 2008 when Suffolk County Council announced the conclusion of their School Organisational Review, the members and supporters of C.L.A.R.E. have worked hard to represent the clear desire within the community in and around Clare to retain an excellent secondary education at the site of the Clare Middle School. We have sought to persuade all key decision makers and interested parties of the deep resistance to SCC’s plans and the detrimental effect on families and businesses in Clare and the surrounding villages - plus the strong financial and educational case for our option.

During the intervening period, much has changed. The Global economic recession has meant that calculations and assumptions made at that time by SCC have proven to be inaccurate at best. In addition, as time has passed, parents have no choice but to begin to plan their childrens’ education without the certainty of a school in Clare. The picture is further complicated by the uncertainties caused by a General Election this year.

The C.L.A.R.E. team believes that the project is currently at a crossroads with two options.

The first is to develop a strong team of local parents, professionals, businesses and enthusiasts to volunteer as a dedicated and accountable Board of Trustees to manage the workload and the resources needed to convert CMS into an excellent community-run secondary school under new legislation planned by both opposition parties should they lead the next government.

The second is to acknowledge that whilst our community would clearly like an excellent secondary school at its heart and to avoid having our children bussed to Haverhill daily from age 11, we have not been able to identify a strong and committed local team of trustees to take this project forward. We would then
leave the future of CMS in the hands of Suffolk County Council.

The current members of C.L.A.R.E. who have acted for the community for 3 years in this matter need to know which of the two options is favoured by all - and so we write to ask you to attend a Public Meeting.

At that meeting we will revisit the journey so far, bring the community up-to-date with the reality of the situation as it currently stands and to ask the question “Do you really want to retain secondary education on Clare for our children and generations to follow?” And if we do, are YOU really willing to make it happen?

PUBLIC MEETING

Monday 1st March 7.30pm

The Pavillion
Clare Playing Field
Harp Lane
Clare

C.L.A.R.E. – THE 2010 CHALLENGE

Our objective from day one has been the retention of secondary education in Clare. We formed to reverse the Suffolk County Council’s (SCC) decision under their Schools Organisation Review (SOR) to close Clare Middle School (CMS) and concentrate secondary education in large schools in Haverhill and Sudbury.

C.L.A.R.E. is a non-political organisation with no affiliation whatever to any political party. However, we have to be in close touch with whoever runs SCC and whichever party is in Central Government to secure satisfactory funding and operate within the state mainstream education system in Suffolk and England.

At the heart of our strategy is the need to retain and build on the excellent ethos, teaching staff and educational results that CMS provides to our children. Our detailed proposal for a secondary school in the Stour Valley for 11 to 16 year olds on the CMS site, was presented to SCC ( a Council with Conservative control) and to the Minister of State for Schools in the present Labour Government. The latter declined to consider our proposal without support from SCC and, to date unfortunately, SCC has refused to change course and support us.

Consequently, having reached stalemate with SCC and the Government and as we need to cover all eventualities, we turned our attention to both the Conservative and Liberal Democrats Parties whose education policies seem to match the parent promoted rural secondary school concept that C.L.A.R.E. are fighting for with their SVCC proposal. C.L.A.R.E has now met with the current Conservative Shadow Minister for Schools who confirmed this and that, if should the be elected to govern in the next general election latest June 2010, they would support the retention of secondary education in Clare in a school promoted and managed by the parents/community and directly funded by Government. We are actively working on a detailed proposal that would meet with the criteria of any of the possible new administrations policies.

We will continue the dialogue with SCC and the Westminster parties to achieve our objective as we are convinced that the game is not yet lost and can still be won because nothing is set in stone.

One of the key ingredients we need is the continuing overwhelming support for the retention of secondary education in Clare from the Governors, Head Teachers, Teachers and Parents of CMS and all the Primary Schools that do/will feed pupils into SVCC. As indicated in this weekend’s appearance on BBC 1’s Politics Show, we are endeavouring to formalise this support. We also hope to hold a Public Meeting in the near future to bring all interested parties up-to-date with our progress and invite comment.

The Politics Show - The C.L.A.R.E argument

Click the following link to watch the programme on BBC IPlayer

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qfbhr/b00qfbdr/The_Politics_Show_East_24_01_2010

Press release issued from MP Tim Yeo's office

PRESS RELEASE - HIGH LEVEL EDUCATION MEETING AT HOUSE OF COMMONS

South Suffolk MP, Tim Yeo, set up a meeting at the House of Commons for a delegation from Clare & Local Area for Rural Education (C.L.A.R.E.) with Nick Gibb MP, the Conservative Shadow Minister for Schools.

The meeting was arranged so that C.L.A.R.E. could explain to Nick Gibb their proposal for Clare Middle School to become a new secondary school, Stour Valley Community College (SVCC), (based on the parent and community management ethos, particularly in respect of curriculum provision, pupil admission numbers and environmental impact, for pupils from Clare and the surrounding rural villages), and to determine whether the proposal matched Conservative Education Policy. Currently, Suffolk County Council are intending to close the existing school and bussing children to much larger schools in Bury St Edmonds or Sudbury in future.

The C.L.A.R.E. Chair, Jim Meikle, thanked Tim Yeo for his continuing and stalwart support and for setting up the very encouraging meeting. After seeing the plans, Nick Gibb MP confirmed that the campaign group's proposal was absolutely in line with Conservative Education Policy and therefore would be fully supported if the Conservative won the General Election. Nick Gibb thought that if a Conservative Government came into power next year it should not be too late to intervene in Suffolk County Council’s SOR process to ensure that the new upper school proposal was given the go-ahead.

C.L.A.R.E. emphasised their belief that the new school would be good value for money and Nick Gibb advised that their ‘New Academy’ secondary schools, such as the SVCC plan, would be funded direct by a Conservative Government through the per capita budget formula and separate grant funds for project development.

After the meeting Tim Yeo said: "This was a very constructive talk. It's clear that the schools policy of the next Conservative Government will be totally supportive of initiatives like this one for Clare. In the meantime, I hope that Suffolk County Council will not take any steps which could jeopardise the chances of this genuinely excellent project getting off the ground."

The CLARE campaign is supported by Tim Yeo, governors, parents, local businesses and Cllr Jane Midwood the County Council member for Clare.

MP Tim Yeo letter to Suffolk County Council following the meeting at Westminster

Cllr Graham Newman
Portfolio Holder for Children, Schools and Young People’s Services
Suffolk County Council
Endeavour House
8 Russell Road
Ipswich
Suffolk
IP1 2BX

2 November 2009

Dear Cllr Newman,

As you may have heard from Jeremy Pembroke, I had a meeting last week with Nick Gibb MP, Shadow Minister for Schools and four members of the CLARE group who have been campaigning for a new upper school on the site of the current Clare Middle school.

We were very pleased to have a clear statement from Nick that the CLARE groups proposal’s were entirely in line with Conservative education policy and as such, where precisely the type of parent-led, community-backed new schools we will actively promote if elected to government in May.

Having seen the proposals yourself you will have been able to appreciate the considerable benefits of the CLARE proposal. Being built on the foundations of a school that is already working well, has a strong ethos and the Holy Grail in education – strong parent and community support.

I appreciate that the current plans for secondary schooling in Suffolk are based on guidelines and funding criteria virtually dictated by a Labour government. However, I hope that now you have taken over responsibility for the future of education in Suffolk, and bearing in mind the increasing financial uncertainty around the Building Schools for the Future Programme, you will be able to take a fresh and positive look at this alternative scheme.

At the very least I would urge you to use your authority to delay progress towards closing down Clare Middle School to ensure it will not too late to revisit this idea in the event of a highly supportive Conservative administration taking over in just six months.

Tim Yeo MP

C.L.A.R.E meet Nick Gibb MP at Westminster

Tim Yeo MP, Nick Gibb MP (Shadow Minister of State for Schools)

and C.L.A.R.E members Jim Meikle (Chair), John Collecott, Diana Sharp and Trevor Souster


Members of C.L.A.R.E met with conservative MP's, Nick Gibb and Tim Yeo this week to discuss the Stour Valley Community College proposal. MP Nick Gibb confirmed that the proposal does dovetail with Conservative Policy and is exactly the type of a scheme the Conservative Party is looking for and would support. He and MP, Michael Grove (Shadow Secretary of State for Children) will be writting to Suffolk County Council to recommend that they defer or re-consider their position now.

Suffolk's schools among worst funded in country reports East Anglian Daily Times

SUFFOLK'S schools are among the lowest funded in England, with spending per pupil well below the national total. The county is second from bottom in a league table of nine education authorities in the East of England, which are all receiving less cash than the average....

Full story at:
http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=News&itemid=IPED26%20Oct%202009%2018%3A32%3A07%3A560

Head teachers divided over future of middle schools

THE uncertainty surrounding the future of some of Suffolk's middle schools yesterday divided opinions among head teachers reports the EADT.

One head teacher described the situation as “utterly ridiculous'' claiming staff and pupils were being left in the dark over the future of their schools....

Full story at:
http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=news&tBrand=EADonline&tCategory=News&itemid=IPED15%20Sep%202009%2021%3A02%3A36%3A073

Middle school abolition plan thrown into chaos

Just as we feared.....

The East Anglian Daily Times has reported that plans to scrap Suffolk's middle schools have been thrown into turmoil because of uncertainty whether the county council will receive millions of pounds in grants previously promised by the government......

Full story at:
http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=news&tBrand=EADonline&tCategory=News&itemid=IPED14%20Sep%202009%2021%3A06%3A10%3A970

Note from the Chair

Dear Supporter,

Things may have seemed to have gone quiet on the public front in respect of the closure of our Middle School but much is going on behind the scenes. C.LA.R.E. continue to examine with partners the failures of the SOR Consultation and the inappropriate reaction to the parent/community proposal for a new secondary community college on the Middle School site. We have identified significant areas of failure and perhaps even neglect in the County Council’s process and procedures. We can challenge those issues but to be realistic we currently do not have the resources to mount the legal challenge which would be probably win. However we have written to a Government Official called the Schools Commissioner (see post below) who is supposed to represent parents’ and children’s interest in education, asking him to intervene on the basis of the bureaucratic mess and the inclusive nature of the advice arising from Government policy.

Our MP Tim Yeo continues to support and lobby for us and has recently been discussing our situation with Lord Hanningfield an eminent political leader in the area of education who has been very outspoken about the failures of education provision of late. Tim has also written to the Schools Commissioner supporting our contentions.

Meanwhile the LIBDEM/LAB/Independent opposition in the County Council have announced their intent to halt and change the SOR process and re-consult with communities if elected to power in the forthcoming local elections and you may wish to view their manifestos available on their respective websites.

It is our belief that Suffolk County Council has run out of money and cannot fund the changes they have proposed. Certainly in central government circles they feel things may have to change or at the very least remain as they are. We are continuing to explore the reality of this.

Also we are endeavouring to collectively mobilise support against the SOR Process across the county with other parental groups and parish councils who in reality actually repsresent their local communities’ best interests.

Finally C.LA.R.E. have not given up – nor should you. There is much going on, and we will keep you informed as and when there is something tangible to tell you.

Jim Meikle.
Chair.